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Does Arm and Hammer Baking Soda Contain Aluminum?

With the new version of Dr. Campbell-McBride’s book (Gut and Psychology Syndromeâ„¢) there was a very important change on the Not Allowed foods list. Originally we didn’t use baking soda on full GAPSâ„¢ because in the old book we weren’t allowed to have it (that we could see anyway). So we valiantly worked on methods to make baked goods without a rising agent and did very well – if I do say so myself. But a friend of ours had gotten the new book and in the course of reading it called us excitedly.

She told us we could have baking soda! My first reaction was “Where? Where did it say that?” Well if you look at the book there is a little note tacked on the Not Allowed foods list, and I quote:

“Baking powder and raising agents of all kinds apart from pure bicarbonate of soda.” (emphasis mine)

I was so happy. I bet I did a dance in the kitchen – I’m grinning just thinking about it. Baking soda makes such a difference in baked goods! Were they were really good before now they’re just excellent. But I got to wondering, questioning person that I am, and asked “What’s pure baking soda?”

“Do people sell unpure baking soda? And how do I avoid that?”

Yes there is a technical explanation that I don’t care to copy and paste as I found it a little boring, but you can buy unpure baking soda. Don’t worry that pure baking soda is going to cost you an arm and a leg though. It won’t.

And if you’ve been in your local health food store and seen the price of Bob’s Red Millâ„¢ baking soda don’t hit the roof yet. I’ll be really honest with you – if you go to a health food store for baking soda you’ll spend way more then you need to. Sure it’s safe, and if you feel really uncomfortable using anything else by all means use it! I just can’t justify spending more money on something that should be super affordable.

But what about Aluminum?

Due to a little phrase on the front of Bob’s Red Mill Baking Soda “Aluminum Free” health food people have been speaking out against any type of baking soda that doesn’t say aluminum free. At one point it was important to say this on the front of their packaging because people were using aluminum in their baking soda – but you don’t have to worry about that much anymore. Most companies have made the aluminum free switch, and if your buying pure baking soda it won’t have aluminum in it anyway.

Okay but what about Arm and Hammerâ„¢?

I’ve heard several people question whether or not Arm and Hammer baking soda contained aluminum. After all it didn’t state on the front that it didn’t. So from several people I’ve talked to there seems to be the idea that it contains aluminum and should be avoided.

Only problem for those people is it isn’t true.

That’s right Arm and Hammer baking soda is aluminum free! Now you can buy a big bag of affordable, baking soda and know that it’s safe for you and you’re family.

If you’re wondering how I know this know that I’m just brilliant that way. Just kidding. In all seriousness I emailed the company (which if you have a question you should ask them), and here was their reply:

“Thank you for taking the time to contact Church & Dwight Co., Inc. regarding ARM & HAMMERÂ® Baking Soda. In response to your inquiry, ARM & HAMMERÂ® Baking Soda is 100% sodium bicarbonate and does not contain aluminum.” (emphasis mine)

So I hope that clears up any questions you’ve had about baking soda, but if you still have a question about it feel free to leave me a comment and I’ll try to answer it as soon as possible.

(The above mention of Bob’s Red Mill is meant to be informative, and is in no way against their company or product.)

There is no such thing as 100% anything. Anyone who sell you something 100% pure is lying. Look at expensive chemical grade compounds. It may say 99.99%. Maybe Arm & Hammer is 99.9999%, but I doubt it. It would have to come in a sealed glass bottle. Same with sunglasses that say they block 100% of UV. It’s not possible, and even if it were possible, no one would have any way of knowing because you can’t have a measuring device with infinite precision. Now, it could be that Congress or the FDA passed a law or rule that says 99.5+% = 100%. If so, that’s a bummer and pretty much as bad as pi=3.14 or the famous 0 grams of trans fats meaning less than 0.5 gram.

I’ve thought a lot about this comment Bill. It just seems like you’re wanting to pick a fight about this, and that’s not what this article’s about. Baking soda at one time had aluminum added to it. That’s why Bob’s Red Mill labeled theirs aluminum free. But Arm and Hammer is aluminum free now too.

There may be a very small 00.01% of naturally occurring aluminum – I don’t know. But after looking at the FDA documentation about regulations for this area I don’t think it’s likely.

In any case I’m willing to take a chance, and for the record I do believe there are 100% things.

I bought Bob’s Red Mill aluminum free baking soda and they send me, Bob’s
Red Mill pure baking soda instead, I read the label and it doesn’t say aluminum free in the label, but you said that Bob’s Red Mill labels theirs aluminum free, and you also said that it doesn’t have aluminum anymore. So, my question is if
it should say aluminum free why did the send me pure baking soda, instead of
aluminum free like I requested.
Please reply!

We use Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) in our “Country Gent” toothpaste powder. We choose to purchase natural, from the ground sodium bicarbonate. It is processed to become pharmaceutical grade, USP. There are trace elements of many things. The Certificate on a recent batch states 99.90% sodium bicarbonate as NaHCO3 It could be as 99.00% and still be to specifications. It can contain traces of Chloride, Sulfur, Arsenic, Heavy Metals, Lead, Organic Volatile Impurities, and Ammonia.
The issue with “aluminum in sodium bicarbonate” is another advertising myth.

hi bill im with you. i have been campaigning against the 5% loop hole, until the loop hole is closed you would be naive to accept anything food industries proclaim without extensive research of yr own. hears to honesty, may it prevail if we are not to perish from lack of knowledge & truth

I totally agree with you. I heard there was a “scant” amount which means the Arm & hammer company doesn’t have to put it on their lable. And Bob’s Red Mill baking soda is made in a factory that manufactures tree nuts and soy. It says so in very small letteres on the back of their package. It should say so in big red letters on the front for people that are allergic. I can’t have nut and almost bought some to use in a liver cleanse. SO GLAD I AM A LABEL READER.

I just read an article about how arm and hammer buys by product from ALCOA, which is aluminum smelting residue.( Baking soda ) Maybe that’s why you would suspect that there is aluminum in it. It might not be in quantifiable amounts, so not under federal regulations to report. But if you’re thinking of making a liposomal product, like Vitamin C or turmeric for cancer treatment, you’ll want to be very sure that there is NONE in your baking soda, as the liposomal formulas are absorbed at so high a ratio compared to regular oral or intravenous methods of ingestion.

It is likely a bad idea to simply assume that a manufacturer is truthful about their product. MSG for example as “free glutamate” can be hidden in products as any of about 20 different aliases. Manufacturers can redefine what “no” means and face either no or little retribution (like Campbell’s “No MSG”) if they’re caught with erroneous or omissive labeling. Google “Crafty Food Labeling Tricks the Industry Hopes You NEVER Learn” or just go to http://www.truthinlabeling.org. With innumerous harmful substances that can be added to food (including real sugars) aluminum may be just a small part of what you need to worry about: TAKING ALUMINUM OUT OF THE DIET: http://home.earthlink.net/~joannefstruve/_wsn/page2.html
Foods would really need to be independently tested for just about everything to be certain. Search for Henry Kissinger/President Gerald Ford- 1974 Plan for Food (Memorandum 200) or Codex Alimentarius & depopulation. There are numerous sites now discussing population control & global genocide.

“The thing that bugs me is that the people think the FDA is protecting them. It isnâ€™t. What the FDA is doing and what the public thinks itâ€™s doing are as different as night and day.”â€”Dr Herbert Ley, former Commissioner of the FDA.

“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” — Thomas Jefferson

Hannah, where did you see that Bobs Red Mill states or stated that claim? Just curious.

I know that Bobs is more expensive but it is not only aluminum free its also cruelty free. Arm & Hammer tests its products on animals. Their tests are horrific. Being an animal lover I can justify the extra added expense and sleep at night knowing that I don’t promote the torture of helpless animals.

Hi Nick,
I know. Sometimes the truth sounds the least believable. Unfortunately I forgot to include the link, thought I had, and went through my bookmarks in a kind of “spring cleaning mode”. Next time I’ll make sure I link to what I quote.

I’ve heard that the issue is no longer companies adding aluminum to their baking soda product, but refining it on aluminum equipment. Do you know if that’s a possibility with Arm & Hammer? Maybe that’s the source of the confusion.

dear aj im sorry but companies do not tell the truth. if yr freedom of choice is important to u, not to mention yr health, look up the 5% loop hole which allows food manufacturers to get away with not listing 5% off the additives in there products. the FDA is a smoke screen for innocent people like you who believe the standards are honest, this is not the case. you could look at Irene Hess Oates, articles for a starting point, you will probly feel betrayed when you realize the real situation us mere consumers are up against

Helpful, actually what I wrote was correct. After reading it again I can see how it might come off a little confusing. But I quoted directly from the book and that quote is in regard to what isn’t allowed on the GAPS diet. So another way to put it would be

“Baking powder and raising agents of all kinds – apart from pure bicarbonate of soda – are NOT ALLOWED.”

hi hannah thank you for this opportunity to have a say, sorry i dont agree entirely with all you say. but this is the best way to get to the bottum of things, and truth in the end will endure, we will keep up the research.

NaHCO3 is mainly prepared by the Solvay process, which is the reaction of sodium chloride, ammonia, and carbon dioxide in water. Calcium carbonate is used as the source of CO2 and the resultant calcium oxide is used to recover the ammonia from the ammonium chloride. It is produced on the scale of about 100,000 tonnes/year (as of 2001).[8]

NaHCO3 may be obtained by the reaction of carbon dioxide with an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide. The initial reaction produces sodium carbonate:

CO2 + 2 NaOH â†’ Na2CO3 + H2O

Further addition of carbon dioxide produces sodium bicarbonate, which at sufficiently high concentration will precipitate out of solution:

Na2CO3 + CO2 + H2O â†’ 2 NaHCO3

Commercial quantities of baking soda are also produced by a similar method: soda ash, mined in the form of the ore trona, is dissolved in water and treated with carbon dioxide. Sodium bicarbonate precipitates as a solid from this method:

Na2CO3 + CO2 + H2O â†’ 2 NaHCO3

Mining

Naturally occurring deposits of nahcolite (NaHCO3) are found in the Eocene-age (55.8â€“33.9 Ma) Green River Formation, Piceance Basin in Colorado. Nahcolite was deposited as beds during periods of high evaporation in the basin. It is commercially mined using in-situ leach techniques involving dissolution of the nahcolite by heated water that is pumped through the nahcolite beds and reconstituted through a natural cooling crystallization process.

When a friend recently showed me his Bob’s Red Mill pkg of baking soda with the words “Aluminum free” my first thought was, “I wonder if Bob’s is trying to cash in on those people who confuse baking soda with baking powder, which you can buy aluminum-free or not.” In any case, as Dr. Garry Gordon says, nowadays it’s recommended to be detoxifying and chelating your body on a regular basis to get all the toxins, heavy metals and pollutants out.

I just want to add this. Some may think this is irrelevant but my father lived to be 90 years old. His family owned a local bakery for a very long time. They used baking soda every day in large quantities. It was the original kind that had aluminum in it. They ate alot of the baked goods that they prepared. Everyone in his family lived to be old. Noone got Alzeimer’s or any related disease. I’m not saying to use baking soda that has aluminum in it or to not buy soda that is labeled aluminum free. It just makes you wonder if all the worry we have on issues like this one is a waste of energy. Fate plays a big part in our health probably even more than any health precautions we take or don’t take.

Ann – Fats only play a big part in health if you believe Big Government. Read Sally Fallon’s “Nuritioning Traditions” for the real information that studies indicated and how the FDA cleverly twisted the results.

OH, SO you wrote and asked the company if they added aluminum to their baking soda. Corporations never lie to people in order to make money. My dear, you are so naive. Check out this website and it will tell you where Arm & Hammer gets its baking soda. From ALCOA, the aluminum foil manufacturer. http://altmedsales.com/index.php?target=pages&page_id=baking_soda

Before you all run off to happily buy your Arm and Hammer Baking Soda, google the Solvey process. This is the chemical process that Arm and Hammer uses to “manufacture” Baking Soda. Cheaper is not always better.
For me, I will pay extra on the things I use to cook with and buy the cheap stuff for my cleaning needs.
I really don’t want products that are from complex chemical reactions when for a few bucks more I can buy NATURALLY occurring products. My innards don’t require the same level of cleaning that my tile shower does.
Just my way of thinking……

There IS a significant difference between A&H and Bobs baking soday. Although, thankfully, neither has Aluminum. This is from this site, http://www.crunchybetty.com/the-great-baking-soda-anti-hoax “the confusion happened, it seems, because baking powder, which is produced in very different ways from baking soda (though it does contain some baking soda), often does contain aluminum. So if youâ€™re going to look for the words aluminum-free, look for it on baking powder.

If the health benefits of using aluminum-free baking powder isnâ€™t good enough for you, do it for the taste. Aluminum-free baking powder produces infinitely yummier treats.

So, now that we know thereâ€™s no aluminum in baking soda (but that there often is in baking powder), whatâ€™s the difference between, say, Bobâ€™s Red Mill and Arm & Hammer baking soda?

Why on earth would you want to pay dollars more per pound for something like Bobâ€™s Red Mill when you can get Arm & Hammer for a stick of gum?

It has to do with the way the two things are procured. A brand like Bobâ€™s Red Mill (or Frontier or various other natural brands of baking soda) are mined directly from the ground in their natural sodium bicarbonate state (also known as nahcolite). In fact, Bobâ€™s Red Mill is mined right here in Colorado, so for me itâ€™s kind of like buying local. Which is nice.

There are no chemical reactions, nothing added or fiddled with. Itâ€™s just pure sodium bicarbonate, the way the earth made it.

On the other hand, Arm & Hammer baking soda uses a chemical reaction process through which trona ore is mined, then heated until it turns into soda ash. Then the soda ash is treated with carbon dioxide, and baking soda pours forth through the glorious brilliance of science.

Itâ€™s just a lot of effort to go through to procure something thatâ€™s abundantly available at this point.

However, I do not look down on the use of Arm & Hammer (or similar brands). In fact, itâ€™s the only baking soda I use for cleaning. Itâ€™s okay enough, for me, to use on counter tops and bathtubs and more.

I choose, though, to only use naturally mined sodium bicarbonate (like Bobâ€™s or Frontier) when I cook, make my own skincare items (like deodorant or exfoliant), or take it internally when I have the occasional heartburn.

This Clears Up the Confusion, Yes?

In a nutshell, if you just skimmed all my words and ended up here at the bottom hoping for a quick and easy wrap-up:
â€¢Baking soda does not contain aluminum, regardless of whether or not the package says â€œaluminum-free.â€
â€¢Arm & Hammer (and other similar brands) use a chemical process that turns trona ore into soda ash and then reacts carbon dioxide with the soda ash to produce baking soda. This is not necessarily bad, per se, but itâ€™s not the same as â€¦
â€¢Brands like Bobâ€™s Red Mill and Frontier procure their sodium bicarbonate directly from the ground, in its natural state.
â€¢Iâ€™m not going to judge you based on your baking soda buying choices, because I am not Maggie.

Lastly, let me just say this: If you were confused by the baking soda and aluminum situation, do not fret. Itâ€™s easy to get really confused in the game of whisper words, especially when itâ€™s played on the internet.

Just a little clarity. Arm and Hammer invented baking soda 150 years ago. This product does not contain aluminum nor has it ever. ARM & HAMMER Baking Soda got its start as a mined ore called trona. Trona is mined in the Green River Basin of Wyoming. Trona deposits were formed over four million years ago after the evaporation of great salt lakes in Wyoming, as well as in Kenya, Egypt, Venezuela, and the deserts of Central Asia. After trona is mined from these areas, the trona ore is heated to make soda ash (sodium carbonate), which is then dissolved in water. When carbon dioxide is bubbled through the solution under pressure, sodium bicarbonate forms and precipitates out of the solution.

Arm and Hammer does cruel tests on animals ? For what reason? I will never buy their product again. But they really have their products everywhere. Cat litter for example. Can you recommend alternatives. Thanks.

A good friend of mine works as a chemist he did test a localy purchases box of baking soda by Arm & Hammer and he reported it does contain trace elements of aluminum so I will not be useing that brand for sure.

Bob’s Red Mill makes aluminum free baking *powder*, not baking soda. Many baking powders (and other foods and medications and our drinking water…) do contain aluminum. This can cause many health problems. I know; I am going through a detox to rid my body of aluminum right now, after experiencing several health issues. These problems have been going on for years, and within a couple weeks of starting the treatment, I am beginning to feel a bit better. It is no quick fix though!

GAPS Diet Help and Recipes (Gluten Free)

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